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Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. Everybody at one point in their life has the chance to be great at something. If God gave you a gift, don’t shame him by throwing it away because determination today leads to success tomorrow. Has anybody ever told you that?

The truth is nothing can bring you peace but yourself, self trust is the first secret to success. So turn your stumbling blocks into stepping stones and climb high, climb far…your goal is the sky, so you aim at the stars, Because the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

The secret of self-confidence and courage hinges on the kind of thoughts you think, so hold an image of the life you want, and that image will become fact. Because to give without thought of grain, to help without expectation of…

I’m a fairly easy going person. Okay, maybe not, but I’m usually good at ignoring people who piss me off. But we all have our limits.

Christmas Day, my husband and I went to see an evening showing of Into the Woods. I was so excited. It was a little strange when we got to the theatre and there were more than fifteen police cars parked out front. Naturally, I assumed either I was at one of the theatres that was showing The Interview, or the cops were having a nice Christmas party inside.

There was an insane line to buy tickets, filled with teenagers all arguing about what movie they wanted to see. And you had to get in a line to get to the line, but since it is a huge theatre, I figured that was normal for a holiday. My husband went in to get…

If you are like most people, you probably can’t remember the last time you un-plugged from the information overload device you call a smartphone, or the last time you turned it off and enjoyed the solitude of nature. It has been said that 96% of people who own a smartphone keep it within four feet of them at all times and there are 6 billion people who own a cellphone according to the world census report of 2013. Time Magazine published an article about a U.N. study which found that more people have cell phones than toilets. Out of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones and only 4.5 billion have access to working toilets.

Social Media is marketed as a social activity, however when you breakdown social media in today’s society it actually makes people un-sociable to the people in their immediate vicinity. Young kids and even adults ignore the environment around them and don’t communicate with the people in front of them while they are on their phone checking for Facebook updates, receiving text, etc. Social Media and cellphones have been distracting the youth for so long, that is becomes difficult for them to physically interact with people in the same room.

In today’s world, it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to look someone in the eye when they are having a conversation. Society is becoming so dependent on the instant information that is constantly being pushed to us that it is hard for young kids to be creative and find something to do without the internet.The very bases of communication and the simple enjoyment of an in depth conversation is becoming a thing of the past. Look across the room, look around you in a restaurant, how many people are on their cellphone? In today’s fast paced information pushing society, when 4 people sit down at a booth in a restaurant, three of them will take out their cellphone and start communicating with someone who isn’t at the table.

The enjoyment of receiving and reading a hand written letter from a loved is gone. Along with leaving a note on someone’s door because you stopped by when they were out. What has taken the place of these simple gestures is an unexplainable obsession with being connected to everybody all the time. What has happened in the civilian world of communication has hindered and excelled the society that we live in today.

Digital communication has helped advance society and has pushed today’s business culture to respond more quickly to transactions, sales and prospecting because of it. It has also hindered our youth due to the mass amounts of communication that streams through the hand held devices. This has become a positive movement for businesses & the baby boomers, but it is also a negative movement for the younger generation. Without the advancement of the smartphone, social media would not be as popular. Think about it, if you could not update your status, add a picture from your phone or tag a friend in a post from your cellphone, would you spend the time to do so on the internet from your computer? This is just one form of instant communication that becomes a parallel to the instant gratification that American society looks for.

Lions clubs all over the world do great things in their communities from vision screening and providing eye glasses to fun events, community service and disaster relief. Lions District 4-C1 is no different; the Lions Camp McCumber Diabetic Camp for kids is a project that helps young kids manage their diabetes on their own & the Lions All-Star Football Game is a fundraiser that raises money for the camp. Here is a small insight to what Lions Clubs all over the nation do in their local communities.

In 1988 the Lions in Northern California started a youth diabetic camp at Lake McCumber in Northern California. This diabetic camp provides diabetic knowledge, nutrition facts and personal confidence to the youth and their families so they can manage and control their diabetes. www.lionsdiabeticcamp.org This camp is just another example of Lions International meeting the needs of their community. This camp is a district project in Lions MD 4-C1 and every club has contributed money, service, man hours, food, cabins, and camper sponsorship for the last 24 years, which in return has helped thousands of kids manage their diabetes effectively.

One of the major contributors to Lions Diabetic Camp is the Lions All-Star Football Game in Northern California, which highlights the Northstates top high school football players in one of the biggest games of the year – the North vs South. www.lionsallstarfootballnorcal.com This game has been the stage for NFL players like Rickey Ray, Aaron Rodgers, Jason Sehorn Ryan O’Callaghan, Jordan Rodgers, Brett Ratliff & more. Northern California is home to one of the top football programs in the state of California – Enterprise High School. This is why the Lions All-Star Football game has been so successful producing top football talent, while supporting kids living with the stigma of diabetes. For the last handful of years this All-Star football game has contributed approximately $10,000 each year to the Lions Diabetic Camp at Lake McCumber. In District 4-C1, this diabetic camp among a few other district functions that is truly close to their heart.

These two things are just a few reasons why I am proud to be a Lion. To be able to change a young life and provide opportunities is a valuable asset to society. This is what we do as members of the Lions clubs, we meet the needs of our communities.